Context and project impacts
“Companies need more megawatts for mining exploitation. Consequently, the communities are left without electricity.” (CDHD)
The Ruashi mine is a joint venture between Metorex Limited (a South Africa-based mining company, subsidiary of the Chinese multinational Jinchuan Group, which owns 75% of the shares) and Gécamines (a Congolese state-owned company, holding the remaining 25%).
Metorex began operations in 2004, following the liberalisation of the DRC’s mining sector. The mine occupies concessions that once belonged to Gécamines, whose earlier operations—despite corruption and inefficiencies—left behind hospitals, houses, and workers’ settlements. Communities now contrast that legacy of social investment with what they see as superficial, short-term contributions from the current operators. Under Congolese law, mining companies must contribute to community development funds, but this obligation is routinely undermined by corruption and collusion between company and state officials. Compensation for displaced families is similarly opaque, with residents describing the payments as “cursed sums” that deepen, rather than alleviate, poverty.
NGOs such as Afrewatch, APREMI Congo, and ACIDH have documented recurring abuses, while modest improvements have only come after international pressure or state intervention, including temporary suspensions of operations in 2022 and 2023.
The human and environmental costs of extraction in Ruashi are severe. Constant blasting cracks homes and disrupts schools and hospitals. Dust and pollution have led to rising respiratory illnesses, while limited access to clean water worsens living conditions. Families regularly face displacement, with no fair consultation or adequate relocation. In some cases, hospitals have had to evacuate patients mid-treatment due to mining blasts. Electricity scarcity underscores the inequality: while the mine consumes vast power to sustain production, nearby communities remain largely without light.
The imbalance between corporate profit and local deprivation is sharp. Jobs are scarce, precarious, and poorly paid, often exceeding legal working hours. In 2017, a 14-year-old girl named Katy Kabazi was killed when unstable rocks collapsed near her home on 14th Street. The incident fuelled anger, but the protest was met with repression. Armed soldiers contracted to the mine reportedly opened fire on demonstrators, leaving several dead.
About the community-led struggle
and their demands
Despite this climate of fear, community resistance persists. CDHD and other local groups continue to document abuses, publish findings, and train community leaders on rights and anti-corruption laws.
CDHD and the local communities have been advocating for fair participation, lawful governance, transparency in decision-making, and projects that reflect their actual needs. For example, a survey conducted by the company promised participatory planning, yet when residents requested a morgue, they were instead given latrines—an emblem of how corporate initiatives fail to align with local priorities.
Residents also emphasise they are not against mining itself, but they demand mining that improves lives rather than destroys them, and they see potential in diversifying the local economy. They welcome investment in industries beyond mining, as long as these enterprises “respect the laws.” They want to see existing social infrastructure—hospitals, schools, communal spaces—expanded and improved. Yet they remain sceptical as long as corruption persists. “If the companies cannot respect the obligations of the state, it is the state that is broken. The agents of the state are corrupted,” notes CDHD.
The story of Ruashi reveals the human cost behind global demand for copper and cobalt, minerals central to the energy transition. Communities endure cracked homes, forced displacements, air and water pollution, and violent repression, while corporations and elites reap the profits. Yet the people of Ruashi continue to organise, document, and resist. They call not for charity but for justice—respect for the law, fair compensation, and community-driven development that endures beyond the lifespan of the mine.
Useful links
- “Grounded Transition” (Coalition for Human Rights in Development, 2025)
- Strategies used by Ruashi Mining to avoid responsibility for human rights violations – Mind the Gap / joint NGO report (ACIDH, Afrewatch, PremiCongo)
- DR Congo: Report reveals strategies used by Ruashi Mining to avoid responsibility for human rights violations; incl. company response – Business & Human Rights Resource Centre
- Democratic Republic of the Congo: Time to recharge: Corporate action and inaction to tackle abuses in the cobalt supply chain– Amnesty International / Afrewatch
- Mini-rapport de mise à jour des effets de l’exploitation minière de Ruashi Mining sur les communautés environnantes (CDHD, 2023)